Belarus supplied weapons to Azerbaijan, thereby betraying Armenia

Belarus has supplied modern weapons to Armenia's enemy, Azerbaijan, even though Minsk and Yerevan are allies and together belong to the CSTO security alliance under the auspices of Russia. This is reported by Politico, referring to the documents on arms supplies.

A batch of documents is shedding new light on Armenia's decision this week to announce its intention to withdraw from the CSTO military alliance.The package of documents, consisting of more than a dozen letters, diplomatic notes, waybills and export passports, shows that Belarus actively supported the armed forces of Azerbaijan from 2018 to 2022, when tensions with Armenia were at their peak.

The services offered to Baku included the modernization of old artillery and the provision of new military equipment used for electronic warfare and drone systems.The documents include letters from the Belarusian State Arms Export Agency to its own military-industrial companies about orders for modern equipment for artillery targeting to Azerbaijan, as well as correspondence between the two countries regarding the purchase of Groza-S mobile anti-aircraft installations.

One of the diplomatic messages reviewed by the newspaper said that Belarusian enterprises are playing an active role in the "restoration of the de-occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as in the export of Belarusian goods and services" to the country.In September 2022, Azerbaijani troops invaded the Armenian territory, capturing important strategic heights. Armenia then turned to the CSTO for support, but later accused the bloc of reneging on its commitments after the latter only offered to send a fact-finding delegation.

Despite the fact that Alexander Lukashenko is an ally of Armenia on paper, he previously called the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev "our man" and said that it would be a "mistake" for the CSTO to oppose him.In turn, Aliyev announced in 2022: "We have more friends in the CSTO than Armenia."According to experts, Belarus, which is one of Moscow's closest allies, could hardly function without the Kremlin's tacit support.